Steve Jobs final departure

[Meld256]

The first news I see this morning tells me Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, has died at the age of 56.

I normally would not give tribute here about someone, but his passing makes me stop to think that without his vision, his life's work, the amazing contributions he and others have made to our society, we may not have a message board like this that reaches around the world. 

Perhaps his passing strikes me partly because I am about the same age, and I grew up without the internet as many of us did. I didn't learn to turn on a computer til I was 40! I didn't need to. People who are much younger might not realize how far we've come in 25 years. 

My maternal grandmother didn't even have a phone. Not because she was backward, but she didn't see the need. Some of her kids lived in other states; if you wanted to contact her, you wrote her a letter.

We all know the internet has its good and bad. I like to look at all the positive things it can do, such as bring people together like us who would never have that chance!  My life would not be as full or blessed without all of you in it!
So I give my thanks to Mr. Jobs and others like him, and send my prayers to his dear family and friends.

[A66eyroad]

Thank you, Meld, for your timely and heartfelt post! I want to echo what President Obama said, it's fitting that many of us learned about the death of Steve Jobs on a device he invented.

I'm reminded again that money can't buy health. Illness is the great equalizer.

[Meld256]

I hadn't heard that, A66ey, but so true.  I saw the news when I turned on my computer. 

And illness is the great equalizer, as shown in this site.  We are from different countries, religions, ethnic backgrounds, educational and demographic backgrounds but we are share in the same struggles, the same tears and the same joys.  Pretty cool. 

[Joe S.]

Money was not able to prevent his death but it did extend his life. Please review his health history as reported by the news. He was not expected to live this long. Some treatments he got overseas just like the head of Medtronics. These treatments did extend his life but they are not legal in the United States.

[gold55]

My heart goes out to the Job's family and close friends/colleagues.  He was too young and so passionate about life and his work....why are these people taken from the world so early?  thank you for bringing this to the forum.     

[newhorizons]

Truly, a loss for the whole World...

His achievements have opened a new World for me!

newhorizons

[lynnmarie219]

Thanks for starting this post Meld...he was definitely too young...and his family and friends are in my thoughts today.

[Still in the hunt]

he was the last American that knew what the heck he was doing

[Still in the hunt]

my best friends brother died from this,, when he was told 6 months and made it to 8,, and was down to 80 pounds,, he told me he wish he had only made it to 6,, he was in bad shape,, i saw a pic of jobs shortly before he died,, he looked exaclt y the same,, horrible disease,, but it will get you in the end,, no amount of meds world travel is going to stop it,,

[irish]

Steve Jobs was a great man, there is not doubt about it. One of the great business men that did it his way with no college education. He only had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and the ability to persevere. He was like a kid in a candy shop with those sparkling eyes and all that enthusiasm.

When they mentioned that he had a neuroendocrine tumor I was curious and looked it up. It was what I thought it was. This type of tumor is also called a Carcinoid tumor. I had this on my appendix and it was found when I had my hysterectomy. It was what they call an incidental finding as I was not having any symptoms. It was just starting to erode the mucosa and my GYNE had to pull all my intestines and run them through his fingers to check for tumors.

He also checked my liver, gallbladder and spleen and anything else he could get his hands on. He said my appendix was about 6 inches long and attached to the back of my pelvic cavity. I had a backache for many months!!!!

Back in 1990 if you looked this up in the medical books it was called a tumor that was not cancerous but was malignant because it was capable of spreading. When we moved back to MN about 2 months later the mother of one of my son's friends died of this disease. It is a very slow spreading disease at first and slower than a lot of cancers, but it spreads in such a weird way and is very hard to contain.

I also had a highschool friend that passed away last summer from this. She had a "hot appendix" and when they opened her up they found a good sized tumor that pathologiy found to be a carcinoid (this has now been officially labeled a cancer) plus another type of cancer.

Be aware that the carcinoid tumors secrete hormones and give very strange symptoms. People will get just flushed beyond belief and break out in a sweat. There pulse will race and enormous feelings of anxiety. These are just a few of the symptoms. The way they test for this is to do a 24 hours urine and measure the amounts of hormones that are found in the urine.

When you do this urine test you have to list all the meds you are on and there are certain foods that you can't eat--I think bananas and avocados are a couple of the foods. You can get this growth anyplace in your body but it does like the appendix and the other abdominal organs plus the lungs. Thank goodness it is as rare as it is.

If you want more information about this do a search on carcinoid tumors and you will find a lot of info. They use an amazing arsenal of medications to try to contain this growth. Irish

[lighthouse33]

Steve Jobs?s secret legacy: Dying Apple boss left plans for four years of new products

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2046397/Steve-Jobs-Dying-Apple-boss-left-plans-years-new-products.html

[lillibelle]

Beautiful post & insightful thread.  Bet Steve Jobs is looking down with a smile across his face.